Polaritonic Chemistry Enabled by Non-Local Metasurfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel approach using non-local metasurfaces to enable vibrational strong coupling, significantly accelerating chemical reactions and offering a new platform for polaritonic chemistry beyond traditional Fabry-Perot cavities.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the use of plasmonic metasurfaces with surface lattice resonances to control chemical reactions under vibrational strong coupling, simplifying setup and expanding application scope.

Findings

Solvolysis of para-nitrophenyl acetate is accelerated by 2.7 times under strong coupling.

Non-local metasurfaces can sustain surface lattice resonances for vibrational strong coupling.

Open optical cavities with metasurfaces facilitate large-area polaritonic chemistry.

Abstract

Vibrational strong coupling can modify chemical reaction pathways in unconventional ways. Thus far, Fabry-Perot cavities formed by pairs of facing mirrors have been mostly utilized to achieve vibrational strong coupling. In this study, we demonstrate the application of plasmonic microparticle arrays defining non-local metasurfaces that can sustain surface lattice resonances as a novel tool to enable chemical reactions under vibrational strong coupling. We show that the solvolysis kinetics of \textit{para}-nitrophenyl acetate can be accelerated by a factor of 2.7 by strong coupling to the carbonyl bond of the solvent and the solute with a surface lattice resonance. Our work introduces a new platform to investigate and control polaritonic chemical reactions. In contrast to Fabry-Perot cavities, metasurfaces define open optical cavities with single surfaces, which removes alignment hurdles, facilitating polaritonic chemistry across large areas.